Consumer confidence sees uptick in June
New figures have shown that consumer confidence bounced back in June following a significant decline in April due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
GfK’s long-running consumer confidence index has risen by six points to -30 this month.
Joe Staton, GfK’s client strategy director, said: “We have a six-point uptick in the overall index score with all measures up and particularly strong increases in future perceptions of personal finances and the economy. But we still have a story that’s about negative numbers so it’s too early to say that consumers are moving on from the Covid-19 crisis.”
The index measuring the forecast for people’s personal finances over the next 12 months rose by six points to -4 this month while the index for expectations for the general economic situation over the same period climbed by nine points to -48.
The major purchase index has also increased by nine points, rising to to -32 in June, although this is 30 points lower than it was in the same month last year.
Staton added: “The initial fall we announced on 6 April (-9 down to -34) was the biggest ever since this survey’s origins in 1974. This latest improvement may be misleading. Consumers appear to be confused and some are not sure what to think.
“Yes, we have seen queues as some shoppers return to battered high streets. But with economists warning that the post-lockdown upturn might not restore GDP to pre-Covid-19 levels, and with the labour market set for more job losses, we have to question whether we are seeing early signs of economic recovery or that infamous ‘dead cat bounce’.“
Photo by Georgia Hawkins
